Emergency workers engaged in the search and rescue operation at the collapsed condo in Surfside, Florida, have shifted their efforts to recovering the remains of victims on Wednesday as hope faded at the two week mark of finding any further survivors.
The Champlain Towers South, a residential oceanfront apartment building, collapsed at about 1:30 a.m. on June 24.
Rescue crews have been carrying out round-the-clock searches over the past 14 days. The formal transition from rescue to recovery was set to take place at midnight, with a moment of silence scheduled for shortly after 7 p.m.
The mayor tried to hold back tears at a news conference on Wednesday. “At this point, we have truly exhausted every option available to us in the search-and-rescue mission. Nothing we can do can bring back those who are lost,” she told reporters.
The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said late Wednesday in a statement, “In tribute to lives lost, our rescue teams held a moment of silence & prayer near the Surfside building collapse, With heavy hearts, we begin search & recovery efforts, and will continue to give our all as our commitment still remains to reunite families with their loved ones.”
At a separate private briefing, Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told families that emergency workers’ efforts would cease using rescue dogs and listening devices. “Our sole responsibility at this point is to bring closure,” he said Wednesday.
He added that the likelihood of finding people still alive is now close to zero, despite efforts by rescue workers who have been looking for spaces between the mostly concrete and steel rubble potentially large enough to hold survivors.
Pointing to the way the 12-story building fell straight down where people are trapped and crushed between the floors, Jadallah said Wednesday, “We noticed the stress, the force of the pressure of the walls and the floors just pretty much again sustained no chance of life.”
He described the recoveries as “human remains,” suggesting that few intact bodies have been found.
The 12-story tower was built in 1981 and was in the process of being recertified as part of Florida’s 40-Year Recertification Program. Prior to the collapse, it was undergoing roof construction and other repairs.
Investigators have not established what caused the sudden collapse.
A 2018 engineering report had warned of structural deficiencies.
At least six lawsuits have been filed by family members of the residents of the tower since the collapse.
Separately, residents of a North Miami Beach condominium, Crestview Towers, were told to leave immediately last week after engineers found serious concrete and electrical problems. They have not been allowed to return as city officials try to determine if the building can be stabilized.
